Observation by Alan Snook: Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) faint companion

Uploaded by

Alan Snook

Observer

Alan Snook

Observed

2026 Mar 18 - 20:22

Uploaded

2026 Mar 24 - 21:05

Objects

Alnitak

Planetarium overlay









Constellation

Orion

Field centre

RA: 05h40m
Dec: -01°57'
Position angle: +114°14'

Field size

0°18' × 0°11'

Equipment
  • Altair Astro 130EDT refractor, ZWO ASI662MC, UVIRBlock.
Exposure

10 x30 sec live stack in Sharpcap

Location

Kent, UK

Target name

Zeta Orionis with faint companion

Title

Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) faint companion

About this image

Did not set out to obtain this image, I was simply toying with the Live Stack option in SharpCap, curious to see what was possible. The companion sits in the glare of Alnitak at 10 o'clock.  Alnitak is a blue supergiant star of around 12-16 solar masses and >30,000 times our Sun's luminosity.

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